Chapter 829: The Heart of the Mountain

Chapter 829: Chapter 829: The Heart of the Mountain

The little snake spirit glided through the dark cave, his translucent green body illuminating the dusty floor.

Yue Yue slithered closely behind him, her small white tail dragging.

Although he had already shown her the hollow rock where he slept, the dry stone ledge where he ate, and the empty caverns where he had spent countless years alone, she still could not understand how anyone could live in such a place for so long.

There was nothing here. No warm sunlight. No soft bed. No mother. No father. No family and no friends. Only endless, suffocating darkness.

Yue Yue quietly looked around, her heart heavy with longing for home.

Suddenly, the little spirit froze in mid-air. He turned his translucent head and looked down at her, his ghostly eyes wide with a strange, sudden realisation as if a long-buried memory had violently burst to the surface.

"Wait..." he whispered, his wings fluttering frantically.

Yue Yue blinked her gemstone blue eyes. "What?"

The spirit stared at the tiny snake cub in front of him, his face twisting in shock. Then, he suddenly slapped his phantom forehead with his tail.

"I remember something!"

"What?" Yue Yue asked, tilting her small head.

"I have a son!" the spirit gasped, his chiming voice echoing through the tunnel.

Yue Yue’s eyes widened. "A son?"

"Yes!" The spirit became wildly excited, hovering higher and zipping around in glowing circles. "I have a son! A real son!"

He looked around the empty, shadowy cavern as if he expected a young snake to suddenly emerge from the dark. "My son..."

A radiant, hopeful smile slowly spread across his ghostly face. "He must be waiting for me outside, right?"

But just as quickly as it had appeared, his joyful expression froze.

The light in his eyes dimmed. He couldn’t remember the child’s face. He couldn’t remember his name. He couldn’t even remember how old his son had been when they were separated.

Only the overwhelming feeling remained...a deep love, telling him that somewhere beyond this mountain, someone had once waited for him to come home.

Driven by a sudden wave of frantic emotion, the spirit swooped straight down towards Yue Yue! His ghostly face zoomed so close to hers that Yue Yue nearly screamed in fright.

"Can you find my son for me?!" he begged, his glowing wings trembling.

Yue Yue’s little body stiffened into a rigid line. "Y-You scared me!"

The spirit didn’t seem to hear her. His ghostly wings reached out, hovering against her small form in excitement. "I want to meet him! I want to know if he is still waiting for me! Can you find him? Please!"

Yue Yue stared at him, bewildered. Then, she slowly shook her head. "How can I find him? I don’t know anyone outside."

The spirit’s excited expression slowly collapsed, his form slumping in defeat.

Yue Yue lowered her small head, her gemstone blue eyes thoughtful. "But..."

The spirit immediately looked up, his winged form perking up instantly. "But what?"

"If you help me get outside..." Yue Yue said softly, looking at him with earnest eyes, "...I can ask my mother and my beast fathers to help you. My father is very powerful! My other fathers are super powerful, too! They know so many people across the lands. If your son is still alive, they will definitely be able to find him!"

The little spirit froze, his glowing wings hovering motionless. "Outside?"

"Yes!" Yue Yue nodded eagerly, her small tail flicking. "I want to go home. Can you take me outside?"

The spirit stared blankly at her. "Outside..." He repeated the word softly, as if it were a foreign language he hadn’t spoken in a thousand years.

Gradually, his glowing face went completely blank. "I..." He looked around at the cold, looming stone walls enclosing them. "I don’t know."

Yue Yue’s eyes widened in horror. "You don’t know?"

The spirit shook his horned head helplessly. "I don’t know how to leave."

Yue Yue was completely stunned. For a long, agonising moment, she couldn’t say a single word. She looked at the endless cave surrounding them and then back at the glowing, translucent spirit.

"You don’t know how to go outside?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

"No," the spirit chimed softly.

"But... but you’ve been here for so long!"

"Yes."

Yue Yue’s little face slowly turned pale as snow. A terrible, suffocating realisation struck her little mind.

If this powerful, ancient spirit had been trapped inside this mountain for thousands of years... and even he did not know how to escape... then what about her?

Would she also be trapped here forever? For thousands of years, all by herself in the dark?

Would she never see her sweet mother again? Would she never feel her fathers’ protective arms? Would she never play with her brothers or hug her twin sisters?

Hot, heavy tears instantly filled Yue Yue’s gemstone blue eyes. "No..." she whimpered, her tiny body trembling violently. "I want to go home..."

The little spirit looked down at her, his heart aching. Yue Yue lowered her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she fought desperately not to sob aloud.

She had only been away from her family for a single day, but she missed them so painfully it felt like her chest was bursting.

She missed sleeping curled up besides her sisters in their warm bed. She missed her mother’s gentle, sweet scent. She missed her fathers’ reassuring strength. She even missed her big tiger brother, Xiao Yi, scolding everyone when they made a mess!

She wanted her home. She wanted her family.

The spirit fell silent. Watching the tiny snake cub tremble as tears dripped onto her white scales, a sudden, sharp pang pierced his chest.

He didn’t know why it hurt so much... Perhaps because, a long time ago, he too had sat in this exact same darkness, weeping and waiting for someone to come save him.

But he had waited so long that he had forgotten who he was waiting for.